DA case: Convicted Jayalalithaa moves Karnataka High Court

Bangalore, Sept 29: Lawyers of J Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK chief who was convicted on Saturday in connection to a 18-year-old disproportionate assets case and handed a four-year sentence, moved the Karnataka High Court for her bail on Monday.

A special court of Judge John Michael D'Cunha in Bangalore convicted Jayalalithaa and three others in the DA case worth Rs 68.65 crore, leading to violence in Tamil Nadu. Sixteen people have died either by committing suicide or because of heart attack after the verdict came.

Senior counsel of Jayalalithaa B Kumar said on Sunday that they would be filing a bail application in the Karnataka High Court on Monday, according to a Rediff.com report. Jayalalithaa stepped down from the post of the chief minister following the conviction and was also disqualified as an MLA. She was banned from contesting polls for six years.

The 66-year-old leader's advocates also held discussions on filing a petition seeking a stay on the conviction and also the sentence. A stay would nullify Jayalalithaa's disqualification as the MLA, the Rediff report said. If the conviction is not overturned, then the AIADMK leader would be barred from participating in electoral politics for 10 years (four years of jail plus six years of disqualification).

As per a ruling given by the Supreme Court last year, a member of the parliament or legislative assembly would be disqualified if he or she is convicted and sentenced for a period not less than two years. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad is another politician who was convicted by a special CBI court in a 16-year-old fodder scam in September last year.